Networking and building connections are essential parts of doing business. So, in this Expert Insight Interview, Jake Kelfer discusses bringing authenticity in connecting and networking. Jake Kelfer is a founder of Professional Basketball Combine, Chief Elevation Officer at JK Management, inspirational speaker, and two times best-selling author.
The interview discusses:
- Making a life-changing decision
- Embracing authenticity
- Daily connecting and networking
Make a Change
Do you feel like you are achieving your full potential in your current work? What is your vision of success? Now is the perfect time for self-reflection and rethinking whether we do things we want or things others expect us to do. Considering that people are now more accessible to reach due to pandemic slowing down the lifestyle pace, we can easier get any information we need to take a chance and make a life-changing decision.
Embrace Authenticity
Good business connections are possible to build virtually as well. When you talk to someone online, your authenticity can still be noticed and recognized. And especially in uncertain times, people crave authenticity and a feeling of being connected with others. For networking, it is beneficial to show your true self and to be proud of your personality and your way of building connections. Not everyone is the same, and everyone has their style of how they feel comfortable connecting with people. Someone might love writing blogs, while others like recording videos or doing live interviews. While traditional work settings called for a specific type of personality, the virtual work setting enables us to leverage our strengths in making connections. The key to making connections is to make the other person feel a certain way and to find a way to show them that you care. Nothing builds trust between the people better than listening to, understanding, and validating what others have to say. A great example of that is calling customer service and getting frustrated when a person on the line does not understand our problem and tries to solve another problem.
The Rule of Three
Every business makes connections with three different categories: prospects, current customers, and people who can help in advancing business skills such as potential partners, mentors, etc. All three groups are valuable for your business, but depending on your business goals, you can choose how to scale each of them daily. Another very beneficial thing is habit stacking. Networking usually gets pushed down on the list as not urgent. But if we make networking a habit and stack it up on to some current daily routine, it gets easier to make connections on an everyday basis.
Our Host
John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.
Comments